Theodore, Wild Shut Down Penguins 4-0
PITTSBURGH (KDKA/AP) - It was a bad night for the Penguins Saturday as Sidney Crosby missed his second straight game with a concussion and the Minnesota Wild skated away with a 4-0 win.
In the first ever shutout at the CONSOL Energy Center, the Wild's Jose Theodore made 26 saves. He improved to 19-4-3 against the Pens, including 17-1-3 in his past 21 starts.
The victory for the Wild extended a season-high, four-game winning streak. They are 9-2-1 against the Penguins and have never allowed more than two goals in a game.
Marc-Andre Fleury made 33 saves in the loss.
About five minutes in, Theodore saved a shot from in close by Evgeni Malkin. The Wild's goalie also made a nice stop on Arron Asham early in the third.
Chuck Kobasew gave the Wild a 1-0 lead with 6:37 left in the first when a shot by captain Mikko Koivu deflected off his body and into the net while he stood just in front of Fleury.
Just 4:43 later, Martin Havlat made it 2-0. Kyle Brodziak won a faceoff in the Penguins end, and Pierre-Marc Bouchard took a shot. Havlat beat the Pens defense to the rebound and fired a shot between Fleury's legs.
Two of the Pens best chances came in the third.
Zbynek Michalek hit the post with a slap shot from the point three minutes into the period, and then Asham was denied on that open shot from the right circle three minutes later.
Seconds after that, the Wild's Cal Clutterbuck beat Fleury with a similar shot from a similar spot on the opposite end of the ice.
The Penguins pulled Fleury during a 4-on-4 situation with 3:20 to play. Soon after the faceoff in the Wild zone, Brodziak flipped a puck from his own end that slowly trickled into the empty net to make it 4-0 with 2:59 left.
The Penguins are 21-12-8 in games Crosby has sat out and have won only one of seven games this season in which he didn't play or didn't record a point.
The Boston Bruins head into town next for a game Monday at 7:30 p.m.
